Plants small, pale, compact, in low turfs. Stems short, forked; rhizoids brown. Leaves only somewhat dimorphic, 2–3 mm long, not much contorted when dry, usually secund, straight and erect-spreading when wet, vegetative leaves oblong, gemmiferous leaves oblong or acuminate, axillary hairs inconspicuous; costa excurrent in gemmiferous leaves; cells of upper laminae isodiametric, smooth to unipapillose abaxially, mammillose-papillose adaxially; margins unistratose or slightly thickened, entire throughout; teniolae lacking; cancellinae narrow, typically truncate distally. Gemmae common, in pale spherical clusters all around on tip of excurrent costa. Sporophytes not seen.